The candidate European Partnership on Social Transformations and Resilience (STR) has published the Foresight Report advancing its Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA), a key step towards its future launch.

SRIAs play a central role in European Partnerships, as they provide the long-term strategic framework guiding the development of the initiative. For the European Partnership on Social Transformations and Resilience, the document sets out its strategic direction, outlining its vision, mission, key impact areas and research and innovation priorities, while providing a common direction for European research and innovation on social transformations.

The Foresight Report was prepared as a preliminary draft of the SRIA and it builds on an extensive strategic foresight process carried out by the German DLR Project Management Agency, (commissioned by HERA – Humanities in the European Research Area), combining desk research, expert surveys, interviews, thematic workshops, scenario development and backcasting – more here. A dedicated foresight cycle was developed for each of the four expected impact areas of the future STR Partnership: social protection systems and essential services, the future of work, education and skills development, and a fair transition towards climate neutrality.

The process was designed to ensure broad participation and methodological transparency: the four trend surveys gathered a total of 625 submissions, the online trend workshops involved 134 participants, and 40 experts contributed to the final backcasting workshop held in Bonn (held on 28 and 29 January 2026).

This broad engagement helped ensure that the draft document reflects perspectives from the SSH research community across Europe, as well as from a wider range of stakeholders relevant to policymaking and societal transformation.

Following the publication of this Foresight Report, the process of finalising the SRIA has now been taken over by the Partnership coordination team and is being led by Forte, the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, under the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.

The next phase will focus on refining the document so that it can serve as a robust and shared strategic framework for the future STR Partnership. The SRIA will provide the guiding principles governing the calls and other activities of the Partnership, outlining the strategic priorities to be pursued, both in terms of thematic research areas and of the types of activities needed to fill knowledge gaps and support policy development. At the same time, the SRIA is conceived as a living and evolving document, adaptable to new evidence, emerging risks and institutional developments, ensuring that the Partnership remains responsive to a rapidly changing social landscape.